Sulliden likely on a gold major's shopping list -
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Sulliden Gold, which owns a gold deposit in the Peruvian Andes, would make a likely takeover target for companies like gold giants Barrick and Newmont, which own mines nearby, Aberdeen International COO David Stein said on Wednesday.
Aberdeen is an investment company that puts money into early stage mining projects, and Sulliden is the firm’s largest position currently.
“I think this company will most likely be taken out,” Stein told investors and analysts at a presentation.
“We’ve got the team to develop the mine here, but given its location right between Barrick’s Lagunas Norte mine and Newmont’s Yanacocha mine, it’s in a very strategic mining area.”
Lagunas Norte is Barrick’s lowest cost operation and produced 808 000 oz in 2010, while Yanacocha is the largest gold producer in Latin America.
South Africa’s Gold Fields also owns the Cerro Corona gold mine north-east of Yanacocha.
“Sulliden’s already over three-million ounces in resources, and they’ve got quite a bit of potential at depth also,” Stein said, pointing out that recoveries for the sulphide ores could be greatly increased through heap leaching.
According to a presentation on Sulliden’s website, its Shahuindo project contains around 3.3-million ounces of inferred and indicated resources, and it expects to conclude a feasibility study by September.
Production is planned for the first half of 2013.
Sulliden has a market value of around C$358-million